CALL FOR PROPOSALS Cooperation projects to create transnational tourism products based on cultural and industrial heritage 44G/ENT/PPA/12/6460 GRANT PROGRAMME 2012 The present call for proposals is composed of a set of Grant Submission Documents, which form an integral part of this call: The call for proposals, The Guide for Submission The Submission Set
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The terms set out in the call for proposals document shall take precedence over those in the other parts of the Grant Submission Documents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
CONTEXT..............................................................................................................4 1.1. European policy framework ........................................................................4 1.2. Specific policy framework for this call........................................................6
2.
OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL.................................................................................9
3.
TIMETABLE......................................................................................................... 12
4.
EU FINANCING................................................................................................... 12 4.1. CO-FINANCING AND JOINT AND SEVERAL RESPONSIBILITY ...... 12 4.2. SUBCONTRACTING ................................................................................ 12 4.3. PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS ................................................................ 12
5.
ELIGIBILITY ........................................................................................................ 12 5.1. GEOGRAPHICAL ELIGIBILITY ............................................................... 12 5.2. LEGAL STATUS ELIGIBILITY ................................................................. 12 5.3. EXCLUSION CRITERIA ........................................................................... 12 5.4. ELIGIBLE PROPOSALS........................................................................... 12
6.
SELECTION ........................................................................................................ 12 6.1. APPLICANTS’ FINANCIAL CAPACITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED ACTION ............................................................................... 12 6.2. APPLICANTS’ OPERATIONAL CAPACITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED ACTION ............................................................................... 12
7.
AWARD................................................................................................................ 12
8.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS....................................................................... 12
9.
CONTACTS......................................................................................................... 12
10. ANNEXES............................................................................................................ 12
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11. EVALUATION CRITERIA................................................................................... 12
INTERESTED PARTIES ARE INVITED TO READ CAREFULLY THE BELOW INSTRUCTIONS, AND TO USE THE QUESTIONNAIRE PROVIDED IN CHAPTER II OF THE GUIDE FOR SUBMISSION IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT APPLICATIONS ARE COMPLETE WHEN SUBMITTED.
1. 1.1.
CONTEXT European policy framework
The Lisbon Treaty provides a new framework which allows the Commission to undertake necessary measures in order to complement the action of the Member States in the tourism sector, in particular by promoting the competitiveness of Union undertakings in that sector (Title XXII Tourism, Art. 195 TFEU). The specific measures in the tourism sector will be especially aimed at: (a)
encouraging the creation of a favourable environment for the development of undertakings in this sector;
(b)
promoting cooperation between the Member States, particularly by the exchange of good practice.
Moreover Article 6(d) mentions tourism as one of the areas in which “the Union shall have competence to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States”. In order to maintain Europe’s leadership in the world tourism industry there is a need to modernise the European tourism policy and offer. Diversifying our tourism products, capitalising on our common and rich heritage (natural, cultural, historical, etc.), is the first of the key priorities identified to boost the competitiveness of the European tourism industry in the latest Communication on tourism, “Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination – a new political framework for tourism in Europe” (COM(2010) 352 final)1, adopted by the Commission on 30 June 2010. In this respect, an important "niche" market of transnational thematic tourism products and services (e.g. cultural routes crossing several regions or countries) has remained unaddressed and has great potential for growth. Whilst recognising the important role Member States play in developing and implementing strategies for tourism at national and regional level, there could certainly be a strong European added value where tourism products are trans-national and represent common European shared values and heritage, allowing us to present and promote Europe as a "unique tourism destination". These considerations have already brought to some EU flagship initiatives, especially in the cultural sector, such as the Capitals of Culture2, the European Heritage Days3 and also the newly proposed European 4 Heritage Label . It is the intention of the Commission to capitalise on those initiatives, also looking for synergies with similar or complementary initiatives undertaken by other International and European 5 Organisations, such as the "Cultural Routes" program of the Council of Europe (CoE) , the UNESCO world 6 7 heritage sites , the "Silk Road" project of the UNWTO , and many more. Indeed several initiatives towards the promotion of thematic tourism products, including cultural itineraries, have been recently launched. Among those: - The European Tourism Day, which is held on the 27th September every year, focused in 2010 on cultural routes and in 2011 on "tourism and industrial heritage"; - Annual fairs "Crossroads of Europe"8 on cultural tourism are also being launched: the first edition will be held in Pavia, Italy, in June 2012 and will be dedicated to religious tourism and pilgrimage routes; 1
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/files/communications/communication2010_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/doc413_en.htm 3 http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/EHD/default_en.asp 4 http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/doc2519_en.htm 5 www.coe.int/routes 6 http://whc.unesco.org/ 7 http://silkroad.unwto.org/en 8 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/cultural-routes/index_en.htm Page 3 of 21
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- A study on the "Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ innovation and competitiveness"9, jointly undertaken by the Commission and the Council of Europe, assessed the impact, and the potential in terms of growth and innovation that the promotion of trans-national cultural routes – on the model of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe - have on small and medium enterprises in the tourism sector; - two calls for proposals have been published in 2011 by the Commission with a total budget of 1,2 million euro, aiming at supporting transnational thematic and sustainable tourism products through financing mainly networking and promotional activities, ICT applications development, joint initiatives, vertical integration of SMEs along different thematic routes/products, etc.. 1.2.
Specific policy framework for this call
The present call is intended to give follow-up to and complement the before mentioned initiatives in implementing the Commission Communication on tourism of 2010, with particular reference to the differentiation of the European tourism offer in the specific fields of cultural and industrial tourism. The present call for proposal "Cooperation projects to create transnational tourism products based on cultural and industrial heritage " is published in the framework of a Preparatory Action "Transnational Tourism Products" proposed by the European Parliament and approved by the EU budgetary authority. This Preparatory Action calls on the Commission to "support cross-border thematic tourism products which reflect common European cultural and industrial heritage and local traditions". Focus on cultural and industrial heritage The Commission – in compliance with the objectives of the Preparatory Action – has decided to focus the present call on those transnational thematic tourism products that give value and promote the richness of European cultural and industrial heritage. Europe is a key cultural tourism destination, with a large number of major cultural sites and a strong flow of culturally-motivated international and domestic visitors. It is estimated that cultural tourism accounts for around 40% of all European tourism. The great variety of European cultural heritage – both material and immaterial – represents for the EU an important competitive advantage on which to build a solid tourism policy. Moreover, the fact that cultural heritage, in its wide sense (which also includes local traditions and cultural minorities) is not concentrated in European capitals and cities, but – on the contrary – is well spread all over European territories and in its countryside, is not negligible. Hence, investing in cultural tourism is a policy tool able to spread the benefits to all citizens, to a wide spectrum of SMEs, generating new tourism flows, new jobs, new cultural and creative industries and opportunities for regional growth. Furthermore, the regeneration of industrial areas for tourism purposes is often a valid alternative to avoid the decline of abandoned industrial areas resulting in job losses, depopulation and other harmful social consequences. Well-founded tourism policies could provide a way out of economic and social crisis in such areas, while ensuring the preservation of local identities strongly linked to industrial production and its culture. The so-called "industrial tourism" is a way to revamp degraded areas both economically and socially: it can ensure a swift conversion of economic activities, generate new revenues and avoid impoverishing of local culture and identity, rooted into industrial production and its industriousness. In this sense, tourism products giving emphasis to industrial heritage also have an important "cultural" component and give value to European culture.
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MAIN DEFINITIONS FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS CALL TOURISM PRODUCT A “tourism product” represents a combination of different aspects (characteristics of the places visited, modes of transport, types of accommodation, specific activities at destination, etc.) around a specific centre of interest, such as nature tours, life on farms, visits to historical and cultural sites, visits to a particular city, the practice of specific sports, the beach, etc. This notion of “tourism product” is not related to the concept of “product” used in economic statistics, but rather to that used by professionals in the tourism business to market specific packages or destinations. It is then possible to speak of specific types of “tourism products”, such as culinary tourism, ecotourism, city tourism, sun-and-sand tourism, agro-tourism, health tourism, winter tourism, etc.10 TRANSNATIONAL
A product made up of a set of tourism services and activities offered in the territory of several countries around a common theme. The transnational tourism product can take the form of e.g.: a route/itinerary/trail, either physical (based on a physical infrastructure) or virtual (linking places/destinations/attractions which have a conceptual link) or a thematic tourism offer.
THEMATIC
The transnational tourism product must be conceived, structured and developed around a common theme.
"International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008" http://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/Seriesm/SeriesM_83rev1e.pdf Page 5 of 21
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2.
OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL
The final goal of the present call for proposals is to complement regional and national policies by supporting transnational cooperation and joint initiatives aiming at designing innovative transnational products in the fields of cultural and/or industrial tourism, with a view to: 1) Contributing to differentiate the European tourism offer by capitalising on and giving value to the shared cultural heritage; 2) contributing to economic regeneration and job creation in declining (post) industrial regions through interregional and transnational cooperation projects in the field of tourism.
Specific objectives Hence, the objectives of the call are to: o
develop attractive and sustainable European cultural and/or industrial tourism products;
o
support transnational cultural or industrial themes and products which help to foster a greater sense of European identity;
o
better exploit cultural and industrial heritage from a touristic point of view;
o
promote tourism in regions in crisis or in conversion, in order to boost employment and growth in these regions;
o
facilitate exchanges of good practices and permanent discussion forums among public decisionmakers, in the fields of cultural and industrial tourism;
o
facilitate and stimulate public-private partnerships and the integration of enterprises of the cultural tourism sector into regional development strategies;
o
improve the quality of the European tourism offer by a strengthened cross-border cooperation;
o
strengthen the management skills of public or private bodies in charge of developing thematic tourism products;
Financed actions: The present call aims at supporting trans-national cooperation and public-private partnerships, in the field of cultural and industrial tourism, with a view to create and develop "transnational cultural or industrial heritage related tourism products". Therefore the focus of this call is on the "product development" phase rather than the promotional and communication one. Applicants are free to propose any kind of action that is considered useful to this purpose. As an example: identification of a common theme related to the European cultural or industrial heritage; mapping of attractions/sites/destinations and tourism and cultural services that could be linked to the identified theme; identification of additional partners, key stakeholders and sponsors; analysis of the "carrying capacities" along the identified transnational product, networking, awareness raising, etc. (the list is not exhaustive and only serves as an example).
Expected results:
•
Differentiation of the tourism offer thanks to the creation of new tourism products linked to cultural and industrial heritage;
•
Creation of a "critical mass" of destinations, attractions, sites and tourism-related services, providing ground for attractive European cultural and industrial tourism related offers;
•
Development and strengthening of skills in managing cultural and industrial tourism products; Page 6 of 21
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The proposal should aim at achieving the following expected results:
•
Increased awareness of the potential offered by the development of innovative tourism products for the development of regions facing economic decline or reconversion of industrial activities;
•
Contribution to the growth of employment in the tourism sector in regions facing economic decline or reconversion;
•
Valorisation of the European cultural and industrial heritage thanks to tourism development strategies;
•
Development of networks and discussion platforms of public decision-makers and the private sector, in the fields of cultural and industrial tourism.
The project proposal must fulfil the following characteristics: •
be thematic: The transnational tourism product must be conceived and structured around a common theme. The theme must be related to European cultural or industrial heritage and it must be clearly identifiable.
•
be technically and financially sustainable. The project should identify the management structure and explain how it will enable the project to meet its goals, identify the staff to be involved with distribution of tasks between partners and staff members. The description of the proposal should also refer to how the action could be further developed after the end of the project period, both technically and financially.
•
create real measurable effects. The expected results of the project should be clearly outlined and it should be indicated how the results will be measured and what indicators will be used.
•
be trans-national. The tourism product that is being created shall have a "European dimension", in the sense of both covering at least 5 different European countries - as listed under point 5.1 - and be representative of the European common heritage and shared values. Coverage of more than 5 countries will be considered as an added value for the proposal.
•
be carried out through a partnership/consortium between a minimum of five partners (i.e. 5 different legal entities mentioned separately in the grant agreement) having their legal seats in at least 5 different countries as listed under point 5.1.
•
give visibility to the European Union's involvement in the project.
REPORTING to the Commission: 2 interim technical implementation reports and financial statements, including a consolidated statement and a breakdown between each beneficiary, respectively 6 months and 12 months following the start date of the action; 1 final technical implementation report (including all deliverables) and financial statement including a consolidated statement and a breakdown between each beneficiary: within 3 months following the closing date of the action.
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Reports must be submitted by the coordinator in English.
3.
TIMETABLE
(1)
Scheduled start-up date for the action: January 2013
(2)
Maximum duration of actions is: 18 months
(3)
No applications will be accepted for projects scheduled to run for a longer period than that specified in this call for proposals
The intention is to inform applicants of the outcome of the award procedure no later than the month of November 2012.
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The period of eligibility of costs will start on the day the contract is signed by the last of the parties. If a beneficiary can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, expenditure may be authorised before the agreement is signed. Under no circumstances can the eligibility period start before the date of submission of the grant application.
4.
EU FINANCING
The estimated maximum budget allocated from the Preparatory Action "Transnational Tourism Products" financing decision C(2012)208 of 25/01/2012 for this call for proposals is: 700.000 €
Indicative number of projects: up to 5 • Maximum EU co-financing rate of eligible costs: 75% • Maximum European Union co-financing ceiling per project: 175.000 € Proposals with a EU co-financing beyond any of the above two maxima will be ineligible. Please refer to section 5 below. • Please note that one action may give rise to the award of only one grant from the European Union budget to any one beneficiary. • EU financing can never cover 100 % of the costs of an action. • The Commission reserves the right to award a grant of less than the amount requested by the applicant. In such a case, beneficiaries proposed for award will be proposed either to increase their co-financing, propose other co-financing means or to decrease the total costs without altering the substance of the proposal. Grants will not be awarded for more than the amount requested. • The publication (on the Internet site and/or in the Official Journal) does not guarantee the availability of funds for the above action. • The Commission grant may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary. Profit is defined as a surplus of receipts over costs. The amount of the grant will be reduced by the amount of any surplus.
4.1.
CO-FINANCING AND JOINT AND SEVERAL RESPONSIBILITY
The beneficiary shall supply evidence of the co-financing provided. It can be provided either by way of own resources, or in the form of financial transfers from third parties. For this call for proposals, the Commission does not accept co-financing in kind. Please refer to the Guide for Submission, chapter IV for further details. In case where a multi-beneficiary agreement is possible or required, all partners shall agree upon appropriate arrangements between themselves for the proper performance of the action. In particular, they shall accept the joint and several responsibility for any amount due to the Commission by anyone of them as stipulated in article II.18 of the grant agreement. The final grant agreement shall be signed by each participating co-beneficiary unless a power of attorney is conferred to the appointed co-ordinator (Form A/4 of the submission set).
4.2.
SUBCONTRACTING
Only a limited part of the project may be subcontracted, up to 50 % of the eligible costs. Subcontracting does not limit the responsibilities of beneficiaries. Please note that the beneficiary(ies) has(have) to have the necessary capacity to perform the project. Only tasks that are not core business can be sub-contracted to consultants.
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Please refer to the guide for submission (page 28) for further details on subcontracting.
4.3.
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
The draft grant agreement annexed to this call for proposals specifies the payment arrangements in article I.5. The agreement is attached for information only, and should not be submitted with the proposal.
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Your attention is in particular drawn to part B of the General Conditions, article II.14, where the eligibility of costs is described. These costs are also further explained in chapter VI of the Guide for Submission.
5.
ELIGIBILITY
APPLICATIONS MUST COMPLY WITH ALL OF THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA SET OUT IN THIS SECTION.
5.1.
GEOGRAPHICAL ELIGIBILITY
Applications from legal entities established in one of the following countries are eligible: (1)
EU Member States
The participation of partners from other countries is allowed but it will not be considered as concurring to the eligible costs, nor as concurring to satisfy the minimum consortium requirements stated in point 2. The transnational nature of the project must be demonstrated by submitting form A/4 to the submission set duly filled in and signed from the partner organisations in order to confirm their participation (original signatures required).
5.2.
LEGAL STATUS ELIGIBILITY
In what follows “partners” are to be understood as any potential co-signatory of the future grant agreement subject to this call, and as proposed by the applicant co-ordinator. 1. Applicants should act in consortium with partner organisations. The consortium must be composed of a minimum of five partners (i.e. 5 different legal entities mentioned separately in the grant agreement, having signed a duly filled in A4 form and having tasks clearly defined in the technical proposal and the budgetary annex) covering at least 5 different countries as listed under section 5.1 "Geographical Eligibility". 2. Moreover, at least 2 partners of the consortium must be organisations falling under one of the following categories: a) National public governmental Authorities – i.e. Ministries - in charge of tourism, culture, regional development, spatial planning, or any other area that is strictly related to the object of the proposal (evidence to be provided); 11
b) "Regional" public governmental Authorities in charge of tourism, regional development, spatial planning or any other area that is strictly related to the object of the proposal (evidence to be provided); c) networks /associations of the above said national or regional governmental Authorities; d) public or semi-public bodies acting on behalf of12 the regional or national public governmental Authorities in charge of tourism, regional development, spatial planning, culture or any other area that is strictly related to the object of the proposal (The delegation of powers must be proved by the relevant public governmental authority). Chambers of Commerce cannot be considered – for the purposes of this call – as falling within this category. 11
By "regional" it has to be intended – for the purposes of this call – any territorial unit classified as NUTS (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) 2 level. For more information on the NUTS classification, please check: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/nuts_nomenclature/correspondence_tables/national_structures_eu 12
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"Acting on behalf of" has to be intended in a strict sense, as having delegated powers and/or being empowered by a public governmental authority to perform activities on their behalf in the fields of tourism, regional development, spatial planning, culture or any other field that is strictly related to the object of the proposal. Being publicly funded or dependent from or in a special administrative relation/subordination with a public governmental authority does not represent a proof of "acting on behalf of" that authority.
The onus will be on the applicants to demonstrate that the partners fully respect the requirements set in the call. Please provide any useful supporting document and proof of the fulfilment of the above mentioned compulsory requirements, in order to allow the evaluation committee to accomplish its assessment.
It is not mandatory, but it will be seen as an additional asset and added value positively affecting the assessment of the proposed project (see also Annex 3) if the proposal includes a letter of intent expressing the formal support to the general project idea from one EU Member State national governmental authority - namely a Ministry - in charge of tourism, regional development, spatial planning, culture or other field which could be strictly related to the object of the proposal.
3. Partners of the lead organisation must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as those for applicants. The applicant will be the coordinator. 4. Applications must be submitted by a legal person. Natural persons (i.e. individuals) are not eligible. 5. Applicants must correspond to the definition of the following target organisations active in the field of tourism or any other field that is strictly related to the object of the proposal such as :
5.1. Public governmental authorities and their networks or associations at international, national, regional and local level, or other organisations acting on behalf of a public governmental authority. In this latter case the delegation of powers must be proved by the relevant public governmental authority in writing. 5.2. Academic training or education establishments; 5.3. Destination management organisations and their networks/associations; 5.4. Travel Agents and Tour Operators and their umbrella associations; 5.5. Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of handicrafts or similar bodies and their umbrella associations; 5.6. Not-for profit/Non-governmental organisations, civil society organizations, foundations, think-tanks, umbrella associations, networks or federations of public or private bodies, whose core activity falls under the following fields: tourism, regional development, spatial planning, culture, or any other field that is strictly related to the object of the proposal; 5.7. International, European and national associations active in the field of tourism and related fields 5.8. Federations and associations operating in partnership across the borders of a number of countries with a proven cross-border outreach. 5.9. Public and private bodies (including SMEs) whose core activity falls under the following fields: tourism, regional development, spatial planning, culture or any other field that is strictly related to the object of the proposal. 6. Corporate bodies must be properly constituted and registered under the law. If a body or organisation is not constituted under the law, a physical person must be designated to provide the legal responsibility.
IMPORTANT
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Please note that bodies that do not fall within one of the above listed categories may not apply for the present call. Subcontracting will however be permisable for them in compliance with the rules and within the limits set at point 4.2 of this call.
5.3.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA
By using the “Exclusion Criteria Form” (form D attached to the “Submission Set) applicants shall declare on their honour that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 93 and 94 of the Financial Regulation. Please note that, according to articles 96 and 114 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities and according to article 134b of the Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) n° 2342/2002 of 23 December 200213 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) n° 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities14, administrative and financial penalties may be imposed by the Commission on applicants who are excluded in relation to points a) to h) of the form in question.
5.4.
ELIGIBLE PROPOSALS
Applications must comply with the following conditions in order to be eligible for a grant: 1. Applications must be signed, dated and complete, using the standard submission set. All forms must be submitted in their original form with original signatures; 2. Applications must be submitted timely, in conformity with the specifications for the submission of proposals (se point 8 below) ; 3. Only projects that are strictly non-profit-making and/or whose immediate objective is non-commercial shall be eligible. 4. Applications must respect the maximum EC contribution as laid out in section 4. 5. Applications must respect the maximum duration of projects (see section 3). 6. Applications must be in line with the scheduled start date (see section 3). 7. Applications may not include contribution in kind as part of their co-financing.
13
As amended by Commission Regulation 1261/2005 of 20 July 2005, Commission Regulation 1248/2006 of 7 August 2006 and Commission Regulation 478/2007 of 23 April 2007
14
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In this context, will be rejected any project directly or indirectly contrary to EU policy or against public health, human rights, citizen’s security or freedom of expression.
6.
SELECTION
The following sets out the basis for the evaluation of applicants' capacities in relation to the action. Please refer also to chapter IV of the Guide for Submission for further details.
6.1.
APPLICANTS’ FINANCIAL CAPACITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED ACTION
Applicants must show they have stable and sufficient sources of funding to ensure the continuity of their organisation throughout the project and, if necessary, to play a part in financing it.
6.2.
APPLICANTS’ OPERATIONAL CAPACITY TO COMPLETE THE PROPOSED ACTION
Applicants must show they have the operational (technical and management) capacity to complete the operation to be supported and must demonstrate their capacity to manage scale activity corresponding to the size of the project for which the grant is requested. In particular, the human resources must be adequate to the scale of the project and team responsible for the project/operation must have adequate professional qualifications and experience.
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7.
AWARD
An evaluation of the quality of proposals, including the proposed budget, will be carried out in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out in Section 11 of this call for proposals.
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The complete selection and evaluation procedure is described in chapter IV of the Guide for Submission in annex 2.
8.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Please note that electronic submissions are not allowed for this call. Nevertheless, it is requested to receive in addition to the required paper copies of the project proposal a CD Rom or USB stick with an electronic copy of the text of proposal in word format and the budget forms in excel format. To facilitate and speed up the evaluation by the Commission service it is recommended that proposals be written in English or French. If another language is used, please provide a very comprehensive summary of the proposal (Form A/2 should be used to this purpose) in English or French. Please consult chapter I of the Guide for Submission for the modalities of preparing the proposal.
The deadline for submission of proposals is:
28/09/2012
Applicants shall observe precisely the below indications in order that proposals can reach their precise destination in due time. Proposals may be: a) either sent by registered mail, (date of postmark serving as evidence of timely delivery); to the following address: European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General Call for proposals No: 44G/ENT/PPA/12/6460 Directorate F, Unit F1, Tourism Policy Development B100 4/30
Service central de rĂŠception de courrier Avenue du Bourget 1-3 B-1140 Brussels, Belgium
b) or sent by courier services (date of deposit slip serving as evidence of timely delivery), to the address below, c) or delivered by hand, in person or by an authorised representative (date of acknowledgement of receipt by the Commission serving as evidence of timely delivery) to the following address: European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General Call for proposals No: 44G/ENT/PPA/12/6460 Directorate F, Unit F1, Tourism Policy Development
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B100 4/30
Service central de rĂŠception du courrier Avenue du Bourget, 1-3 B-1140 Bruxelles, Belgique
How to reach avenue du Bourget 1-3 : http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/calls/hand_delivery.html
In case of hand-delivery, a receipt must be obtained as proof of submission, signed and dated by the official in the Commission’s central mail department who took delivery. This department is open from 08.00 to 17.00 from Monday to Thursday and from 08.00 to 16.00 on Friday; it is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Commission holidays.
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Please note that for security reasons hand deliveries (including courier services) are not accepted in other Commission buildings.
9.
CONTACTS
Contacts between the contracting authority and potential applicants can only take place in certain circumstances and under the following conditions only: • Before the final date for submission of proposals, at the request of the applicant, the Commission may provide additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the call. Any requests for additional information must be made in writing only to the coordinates stated below. The Commission may, on its own initiative, inform interested parties of any error, inaccuracy, omission or other clerical error in the text of the call for proposals. Any additional information including that referred to above will be published on the internet in concordance with the various call for proposals documents • After the deadline for submission of proposals: • If clarification is requested or if obvious clerical errors in the proposal need to be corrected, the Commission may contact the applicant provided the terms of the proposal are not modified as a result. • If the authorising officer finds that those proposals, which have been listed for award needs limited adaptations to their proposal. In such case, these applicants will receive a formal letter setting out the requested modifications. Any such modifications must stay within the limits of the request. This phase will not lead to a re-evaluation of the proposals, but a proposal might be rejected if refusing to ensure a positive follow-up to the request.
Contact coordinates for the call: European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General Directorate F, Unit F1, Tourism Policy Development E-mail address: ENTR-CFP-1244-CULT-IND-TOU@ec.europa.eu
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Office address: B100 4/030, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
10. ANNEXES This document is including the following annexes, which can be downloaded from the Call's page : ü Model grant agreement ü Guide for submission ü Submission set ü Form B1-B2 Budgetary forms ü Legal entity forms and bank account forms can be downloaded at the following links : http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm
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http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm
11. EVALUATION CRITERIA When assessing the below evaluation criteria, the evaluation committee generally pays attention to the elements indicated below each criterion. Please note that these elements, which are indicative and nonexhaustive, are given on the basis of transparency and in order to help applicants to improve their applications.
EVALUATION CRITERIA AND KEY ELEMENTS LIKELY TO BE ASSESSED BY THE EVALUATION COMMITTEE 1. Relevance of the proposal in relation with the objectives of the call
-
How relevant is the proposal in response to the objectives of the call? To what extent does the proposal contain specific elements of a follow-up with regard to the differentiation of the tourism offer? To what extent does the proposal build on cultural and industrial heritage? To what extent are the expected activities covered by the proposal? To what extent do the proposed activities demonstrate a clear European added value? Has the project a real transnational dimension?
2. Visibility -
-
-
-
40
To what extent has the project been well thought out or prepared? How coherent is the overall project design, including its management structure and ability to be flexible and responsible to needs of the target audience and in addressing any risks in implementation? To what extent are the proposed activities well described and appropriate for addressing the particular needs and challenges identified in the proposal? How clearly defined and strategically chosen are the project partners (different types of partners, relevance of the partners to the project, degree of involvement of the partners, clear distribution of tasks)? To what extent are the partners being well chosen in order to effectively carry out the proposed actions? Are the coordination mechanisms proposed sufficiently robust to ensure the goals of the action? How well described and realistic are the proposed performance indicators?
5. Budget and cost-effectiveness -
30
To what extent do the expected results of the project contribute to diversification of tourist services and products and better valorisation of Europe's common heritage at EU level? To what extent does the proposal foresee to contribute to and cooperate with other regional, national and European level initiatives? To what extent will the project potentially benefit the local economy, local communities, etc.? Are the partners able to guarantee successful continuation of the project in the future?
4. Quality of the project -
3
To what extent will the action establish an image of excellence, competence and professionalism? To what extent the European Union involvement in the project or activity will be published?
3. Impact and multiplier effects -
20
7
To what extent is the proposed budget clear and detailed as well as effective to Page 20 of 21
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MAX. SCORE
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implement the action? Is the budget breakdown per activity realistic and reasonable for the proposed activities to be completed successfully? To what extent is the proposed expenditure necessary for the implementation of the activities? To what extent is the amount requested in accordance with the expected results? Is the proposal offering sufficient value-for-money? Is there any element in the proposal that can reasonably guarantee successful continuation of the project in the future?
Maximum total score
100
IMPORTANT
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If a total score lower than 70 points or a score lower than 50% for any of the above five criteria is obtained, the proposal will not be evaluated further.